Office-practice doctors are not pleased to be confronting a new form of competition. "When you see a patient in the office, you use more than your auditory senses," scolds Dr. J. Edward Hill, president of the American Medical Association. He says telephone diagnosis could result in serious delays in getting proper treatment, and, in the worst cases, death. (You could die sitting in a doctor's waiting room, too.)
"If you are good at what you do, then you can tell what a patient needs, even over the phone," says http://www.myeclinic.com . Still, the company tries to forestall disaster by encouraging its call-in physicians to advise the patient, when appropriate, to get face-to-face help; they dispense that advice 8% of the time.
Customers must provide some history before using the service, by electronically filling out medical forms similar to those found in a general practitioner's office. Once registered, patients can phone in from anywhere in the U.S., day or night. A physician licensed in the patient's home state calls back within three hours (or it's a freebie). Only after talking to the caller and checking his medical history can a Myeclinic.com physician diagnose the problem and prescribe medication.
